Judge Fines Roy For Filing Frivolous Suit

MIAMI — Ed Roy's habit of suing law enforcement agents just got a little more expensive.

A federal judge this week fined the former Mount Dora businessman and his lawyer $35,396 for pursuing a frivolous lawsuit against two Lake County sheriff's deputies and a number of federal officials.

If the sanctions withstand a promised appeal, four of the federal employees whom Roy sued in 1991 will come into a windfall. U.S. Magistrate Barry Garber singled out Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Jancha and Internal Revenue Service employees Thomas Altif, Carlos Woody and Matthew Issman to receive $5,000 each.

None of the four would comment.

Another $10,000 is to be paid to the U.S. Department of Justice and the remaining $5,396 to Tallahassee lawyer Fred Parker for his representation of the two deputies, Fred Johnson and Nick Pallitto.

''I don't think a penny is fair,'' Roy's attorney, Rita Farry, said from her Colorado office. ''I believe very strongly in the complaint we filed. We'll appeal.''

A former Lake County developer who has moved out of Florida, Roy accused the deputies and federal employees of violating his civil rights. He claimed that they had conspired to launch a criminal investigation against him because he supported Lake Sheriff George Knupp's opponent in the 1988 election.

But earlier this year, Garber ruled that the accusations were unsupported by the evidence and recommended that the lawsuit be dismissed. After U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro-Benages agreed, Garber decided Roy and Farry should be penalized for filing meritless litigation.

At a hearing last week, Francisco De Leon, the lawyer representing the federal employees, did not ask Garber for individual awards, but Parker, the lawyer for the deputies, did. He suggested each of the deputies receive $5,000 for the damage done to them by the suit.

In an order signed Monday, Garber noted that Roy and Farry have been sanctioned three other times in two other states for filing unfounded lawsuits.